The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-08-06

1t has been our opinion for some years
past that farmers and breeders of horses in
\ gensslA entirely too little attention to
- le walking gait in horses. We
an article which take
Monthly, upon the impor-
a - Commend the same to our
probably more deficient in the
training of horses Daring the
81 peed horses than in any other
equine interest" We heartily
be true, and also the further
same writer, that ''the great
kture horses are but partly
D." The attention of breed
pg called frequently to the
hg colts and young horses
orse used exclusively for
is the only member of the
to be excused from we'll
Pat the walk. The walking
most important for all other
houd be the first gait devel-
rfected by the trainer, and
clean, strong walk is acquired
Should be attended to- though
until they are brought to
proficiency. Horses may
tain almost incredible speed
Ii going if due care is observed.
hown numerous road bred horses
adj walk from four and Il half to
niles in an hour without urging, and
manly, in fact most well-bred road-horses
could be taught to cover even greater dis
tances than this in the same time if it were
not for the pernicious custom Gas we Think
of putting the colts to the trot as soon as
they are in the harness and before they are
really bride-wise. 1t may be good idea
Nor breeders of racing stock to put the colts
70 the trot and run at the leading strap even
Zorro they are old enough to harness or
sipee the popularity of sales of
amin gs' is increasing so rapidly, but Tor
common breeder this is folly. Your
barks on the Hackney" in the June
Vnumber were right to the point-he has no
gait for any purpose; can't even walk.
We would get much better prices for the
~ iisIp ~. Ie icy L-y~~s for car
riage and road purposes if We cultivated
- the walk Every farmers boy knows that
phe cap do better job of work-plowng,
narrowing, or working corn-with fast
walking team than with a slow The
dirt flies ivelier, and it actually takes less
expenditure Of power to plow a furrow
fast than slow, just every knows
there is less absolute expenditure of force
when he goes up stairs at lively rate than
at slow rate The saving on n farm when
the horses walk three miles an hour, or
even when they walk two miles and half,
is twenty per cent, or in other words the
fast team can rest whole day in the week
and vet do as much work as the slow team
do it easier and do it better. While
every effort has been made to increase the
speed of the trotter, the draft horse men
have been working for pounds with little
regard either for muscle walking-speed,
= 1t is q very great mistake to suppose that
the draft horse cannot be trained to walk
apidly. We have been breeding to
Iercheron for four years that often walks
{line miles in an hour and fifty minutes,
over a hil1y road and his coils are all rapid
walkers. They not large as some,
but they are large enough to do any kind
of framework easily and rapidly. This
rapid movement has been of very great
importance to us in the last ten days, when
it was desirable to get the corn ground in
the best possible order in the shortest posi-
BILE time Life is too short to spend it in
poking along after team that cannot get
their heads up The lazy man TO whom
exertiou is burden actually works harder
than the brisk, rapid worker. Of course
I'VE are not advocating the trotter or the
roadster as the model farm horse. They
may be too fery-have too much Of the
trotting instinct for farm work. The farm
horse should have the patience and the
ogged persistence developed by ages of
rvice in that capacity, but he should have
30 the tirelessness of movement that ena-
es him to do it with the least expenditure
effort and of his masters time, and do
in the best manner We used to handle
kinds of teams when boy, and always
6und we could do the best work with a
team that had the strength to do the work
easily at steady, lively gait They turned
better furrow broke more clods with the
harrow, and did great deal better job of
work in the corn field, as well as on the
road.
Farm Houses as Banks.